821,121 views | 01:22:23
Search Icon
How do humans understand each other, cooperate, and build civilizations? Brian Greene sits down with Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker — author of the newly released When Everyone Knows That Everybody Knows — for a deep dive into the psychology of common knowledge, the evolution of language, and the invisible rules that make society possible.They explore why we laugh, cry, and signal emotions, how shared understanding and social norms hold civilization together, and what happens when those norms break down. The conversation also tackles AI vs human intelligence, misinformation, and whether shared truth can survive in a fragmented digital world.
This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
How do humans understand each other, cooperate, and build civilizations? Brian Greene sits down with Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker — author of the newly released When Everyone Knows That Everybody Knows — for a deep dive into the psychology of common knowledge, the evolution of language, and the invisible rules that make society possible.They explore why we laugh, cry, and signal emotions, how shared understanding and social norms hold civilization together, and what happens when those norms break down. The conversation also tackles AI vs human intelligence, misinformation, and whether shared truth can survive in a fragmented digital world.
This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. His books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, have collectively spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Read More
Steven Pinker serves as the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, where he conducts research on language, cognition, and human nature. He is the author of several bestselling books, …
Read More
